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Algeria proposes international accord against ransom payments
[Maghrebia] Algeria on Wednesday (July 15th) continued its campaign to secure international support for a proposal limiting the practice of paying ransoms for hostages abducted by terrorist groups, El Khabar reported on Thursday. Discussions Wednesday at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt followed Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia's presentation of the proposal at the recent G8 summit in Italy. An Algerian intelligence report said al-Qaeda terrorists in the Sahel region have collected up to 10 million euros from kidnapping westerners. Incidents include the 2003 abduction of 32 European tourists by notorious terror group leader Abderrezak El Para and the 2008 seizure of an Austrian couple by al-Qaeda. Terrorists reportedly used the funds to purchase weapons from arms traffickers in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. While the Algerian proposal has already been adopted by the African Union, proponents say it will remain ineffective absent a United Nations Security Council resolution. Sahel countries should also be encouraged to co-operate more effectively on kidnapping cases, the Algerian report said Posted by: Fred 2009-07-17 |
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